


Eve, the Witch Bitch Temptress

by Sam_Haine



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bottom!Rick, Domestic Violence, Gratuitous Smut, M/M, Physical Abuse, Prostitution, Psychological Trauma, Single Parent Rick, Single Parents, Smut, hurtRick, pimping, possibleMpreg, protectiveDaryl, top!Daryl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-14 08:49:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5737315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sam_Haine/pseuds/Sam_Haine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rick Grimes is the equivalent of a single mother desperately trying to make ends meet. He works multiple jobs just to put food on the table for his twelve year old son, Carl and his baby daughter, Judith. He doesn't trust people easily so when Daryl Dixon shows up on his doorstep, he's a bit suspicious. The kindness of strangers is dead ...for Rick, it simply does not exist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my magnificents, lol wuht? Nvr mnd, Sam here and i am back. I have been busy just wanted to let you know that i WILL BE CONTINUING MY OTHER FICS, soon. This one, ive been writing forever ugh ...but everytime i post, it gets reformatted and looks like Judith wrote it so, anyways, hopefully it posts in the correct format now. Bye, and enjoy.

Chapter One –Let Me Go (Three Doors Down)  
“Carl?”   
No response.  
Rick called for his son again, the register in his voice pitched and frantic. He had literally just put Judith down on the ratty old sofa to go make her a bottle and now, she wasn’t there. Where the hell would a one year old baby creep to in the blink of an eye? He searched around the living room and then returned to the kitchen to see if she had gone there but came up empty.   
“Carl! Have you seen Judith?” he cried and the house responded with its usual silence and unforgiving creaking.   
“Judy? Judy where are you baby? Daddy’s looking for you!”   
Fucking silence.  
Growling Rick rushed up the stairs and burst into Carl’s room to see the teenager lying on his bed, comic book in hand and headset in his ears.   
“CARL!” he yelled, tilting his head to one side in a chastising way.  
The way the kid startled would have been hilarious under any other circumstances seeing as his comic book went flying up into the air before falling back down to smack him in the face. But Rick was incensed and scared because he couldn’t find his precious little girl and his boy, Carl was being annoying at the moment.   
“Yeah dad!” Carl exclaimed, jumping off his bed and ripping the earphones from around his neck.   
“Has Judy been up here?” Rick demanded, momentarily forgoing berating Carl for his inconsideration, desperate to find his daughter.   
Carl shrugs, concerned.   
“No. Where the hell is she?”  
Shaking his head, Rick mutters that he doesn’t know and scampers back downstairs to answer the incessant knocking on the slightly ajar door.   
“Hello.”  
The sight that greets him both makes him want to jump and cry with tears of joy and cringe in fear and panic. There’s a man at his door in biker gear, all jeans and leather and hard blue eyes, glaring at Rick with none other, than Judith in his outstretched arms.   
“This yers?” the man rasps in an uncouth manner that makes Rick both want to thank him and strangle him at the same time.   
“Oh my God! Thank God …where’d you find her?” he gasps instead, taking Judith in his arms and cradling her worriedly.   
The man at his door frowns and grunts.  
“Found her creepin’ on the pavement next to my bike. What kinda parent are ya?”   
Rick’s grateful smile immediately dissolves like sugar in water and he has the decency to look severely ashamed …mainly because he is. Truth was, Rick had been asking himself that very same question ever since Lori split with the man of her dreams and left their two children in his care. He could do it, he swore. He would take care of them and give them the best life possible, but that dream became impossible when Lori’s new husband sent his crooks down to the station where Rick worked and lost him his job. He’d been struggling to make ends meet since then, taking up job after job in convenience stores and gas stations so that they could at least have a nice dinner once a week. He was trying …apparently not hard enough.   
“I …I uh …I was just making her a bottle and then she …disappeared.” He stutters dumbly, the frown on the man’s face deepening. “I’m sorry.” He finishes, unsure of why he was apologizing to the stranger.  
The man scoffs obnoxiously and glares threateningly at him.   
“Don’t gotta be sorry to me,” he spits, “I feel sorry for her that she has you for a father.”   
Before Rick could even respond the man is already stomping down the walkway towards his bike, kicking the engine to start and driving off with a bit of venom thrown his way.   
Wordlessly, Rick goes back indoors and shuts the door closed, a yawning Judith squirming in his arms. He sees Carl in the living room, picking up the few toys that Judith had been playing with earlier and sighs, tears springing to his eyes. He takes a deep breath and shuts his emotions off however, taking his seat gingerly on the couch to feed Judy her bottle while Carl cleans up the place.   
“Carl …do you miss mom?” he suddenly asks, his voice soft and genuine. He hears the kid pause quietly in the distance and then continue to pick up the stuffed animals and place them where they were supposed to go.  
“I guess,” he says finally, his voice tight with emotion, “But not really, I’d much rather be here with you and Judy.”   
Rick smiles softly and rocks Judith gently as her eyes begin to close.  
“Alright, I think she’s drank her fill for the night. I’m going to put her to sleep …you should get some sleep too. You’ve got school in the morning.” He says, patting Carl on the head before heading to his room where Judy’s crib is situated. After placing her on the baby soft blankets, he forgoes any showering and just curls up in the middle of his bed, jeans and boots and all.   
His mind keeps replaying images of the strange man at his door from a few minutes ago even though he tries his best to forget the entire incident even happened. But the man’s words keep haunting him like a ghost, his hard blue eyes glaring accusingly at him.   
‘What kinda parent are ya?’  
Sighing, Rick just lets the tears flow, the sickening wetness soaking the sheets below him as painful sobs escape his throat like a sickness that he cannot evade. His eyes burn with the effort it takes to cry and Rick thinks humourlessly that he should be all cried out by now, since he’s been crying since the day Lori left him. She always said she loved him …and that they would be together forever. She would speak sweetly to him as they lay awake late at night and make promises of a good life to him …and she would seem so genuine and invested in their future together. He felt like the biggest fool in the world that day when she just burst into their house and screamed at him. Said she was leaving …said that he wasn’t good enough for her and she found someone who could be her life partner for longer than forever.   
And then she left, ugly silence growing in her absence so much so that Rick had been forced to talk to himself at times when the quiet became too much. He hated the silence because of what Lori and her husband did to him …hated that it had come to define him. He hardly fought for her, Lori would spit at him, the words sharp and poisonous from her forked tongue as she screamed bloody murder at him. Those were her words …that he had murdered their marriage, hacked it into so many pieces that fixing their union were impossible.   
Another anguished cry escaped his throat and he had to gasp out loud in order to stop himself from crying harder. Call him a pussy or whatever, but he cried every night, probably more than poor Judy. Tears came like a waterfall at times, on the bad days and they steadily flowed like an immense river on the slightly better ones. He cried because he was a failure and he knew it. The neighbours around knew it too and even the stranger who’d found Judy had seen right through his fake smile. The man had sneered viciously at him like he was the worst human being in the world and the conviction with which he spoke made Rick believe it. He was the worst parent in the world and his children were paying the price for his failures.   
…  
Headset flung on the other side of his room, Carl sighs in defeat as he hears another agonized sob escape his father’s lips in the other room and feels his own tears spring into his eyes.


	2. Chapter Two –Coming Home (Diddy Dirty Money feat Skylar Grey)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a chapter two, there's no Daryl but there will be in the next chapter. Enjoy my fiction beasts :D P.S: LOOK AT THE FLOWERS!! 0_0

Chapter Two –Coming Home (Diddy Dirty Money feat Skylar Grey)

The next morning comes in full swing and Rick looks up from the mattress with bleary bloodshot eyes, his head aching with swirling thoughts. As fate would have it, it is also Monday and he nearly has a heart attack when he looks at the disturbingly bright red numbers on the alarm clock that sits atop his small bedside table. Its 9:34AM which means that Carl will most likely be late for school again!   
…  
Jumping off his bed, he quickly checks on Judith who is still fast asleep and then dashes to Carl’s room only to find the kid’s bed vacated and unmade, almost like he left it in a hurry as well. He goes to the bathroom and also finds it empty. He hopes that the kid is in the kitchen when he rushes to check but just like the other rooms before, he also finds it empty. Sighing dejectedly, he eyes the folded piece of paper stuck to the fridge with two of the number magnets and rips it off.   
…  
It read, “Dad, made breakfast and packed some sandwiches. See you and Judy later. Carl.”  
…  
Screaming irresponsibly he grabs the glass of water on the counter and smashes it across the tiled floor of the kitchen. It breaks and shatters against the hard surface, millions of glittering shards flying like diamonds everywhere. The silence that follows the breaking glass instantly makes him sick and he crumples to the floor on his knees crying hard. He wants to yank his hair out by the roots and scream until he’s dead because there is no more breath left in his body. But then Judith’s cries echo from his room down the hall and his cries and screams cease …and now instead of the silence, all he hears is his little girl crying and he quickly rushes to his room to get her.   
…  
He smiles sweetly at her before bending over to pick her up and carry her out into the kitchen where he was going crazy before she started to cry. The smashed shards of glass sparkle on the floor where he left them, metaphorical …poetic really. It seemed as if they were symbolizing how broken his life had become and ultimately how broken he was. All his hopes and dreams for his family dashed to pieces just as easily as the glass had been shattered.   
…  
Shaking his head, he sits Judy in her high chair, where he can keep an eye on her and proceeds to make her a bottle. There is a knock on the door before he even begins and his heart stops. The past few days, knocks on his door haven’t been good news at all and so he could understand his own trepidation. Had Carl gotten into trouble in school? Did the landlord come to give him a notice to move out and move on? His rent was overdue, he recalled with a bit of panic. Or was it Phillip again? Lori’s new husband hadn’t been quite friendly to Rick in the past and he has made it a habit to show up unannounced at his place at random times; whether it was to beat the crap out of him or otherwise.   
…  
After taking a deep breath of uncertainty and courage, he opens the door and immediately breathes a sigh of relief when he sees Carol, the kindly, short-haired woman who moved in about a week ago.   
..  
“Hey Carol,” he greets, motioning for her to come in.   
…  
“Rick, sweetie, how have you been?” she replies, her smile widening as she notices Judith in her chair waiting patiently to be fed.   
..  
“Well, you know how things are,” he answers, proceeding to make Judith’s bottle after offering Carol some juice which she politely rejects.   
.  
‘I hope you don’t mind my prying, Richard, but I …heard some glass breaking from upstairs and I thought you were in some sort of trouble.” She admits, taking up residence on the wooden chair next to Judith. The worried glint in her faded blue eyes tells him that she’s already seen the broken shards on the floor near the stove.   
..  
Nodding tiredly he pinches the bridge of his nose as Carol offers to feed his daughter. He hands her the bottle and they retire to the living room where they both take up residence on the ragged old sofa he sometimes falls asleep on.   
..  
“Want to tell me what happened?” she ventures after some time, looking down at Judith with affection in her eyes. She loves Judith and Rick knows it.   
..  
“I just …woke up late that’s all. And Carl …he left a note saying that he’d already made himself breakfast and lunch and …he left for school long before I got up.” He explains, his voice light and shaking with emotion. If it had been anyone else, they would not have understood exactly why in the world waking up late and reading that his son had made his own lunch and left would make Rick so emotional and angry. But it was Carol, a woman who had gone through enough hard times on her own to know that in a situation like Rick’s, even the slightest situations could literally make the man go stark raving mad with grief and unexplained emotions because living like this, was like living constantly on the edge of a great precipice with no one by your side to save you from falling.   
..  
Nodding, she fidgeted around to fix Judy in a more comfortable position before settling back down.   
..  
“I’m not going to tell you that this gets easier. You and I both very well know it doesn’t. It never does. But trust me, there will come a time when you figure it out. You’ll figure out what it is you need to do to get back up on your feet and it might not be now or next year or whenever, but trust me. You will know when it’s time because situations like yours and mine don’t change unless we really want to change them.”   
…  
Rick nods but looks at her with confused eyes.  
.  
“Carol, all I ever wanted to do since Lori left was change. And I’ve been trying to change for a long time and …well, I don’t know why it’s not working.”  
..  
She nods once again in her wise woman way and smiles sadly at him.   
..  
“It will honey. Everything happens in its due time, trust me, I should know. I’ve waited for years to be free from Ed so that I could finally be able to provide Sophia with the life she deserves. I still haven’t reached that goal yet, because we’re still renting but it’s gotten easier. This is the change that will start my life for me. You’ll find yours soon enough, believe me. You’ve got people on your side Rick. You just have to get out there and find them.”  
..  
He listens to every word she says and bows his head, exhausted from life itself.   
..  
“Tomorrow’s Thursday,’ he says, biting down hard on his knuckle, “we always have a nice dinner on Thursdays. But I’ve only got the money to pay the rent. What’ll Carl say?” he asks, more to himself than Carol. She can hear the desperate whine in his voice as he mutters the words and she shakes her head.   
…  
“I’ve told you time and time again that you can come by me and we’ll have dinner together Rick. That’s one of your downfalls,” she chides with a hint of humour, “you don’t like to accept help from anyone.”   
..  
He chuckles.   
..  
“You know I can’t do that Carol. You and Sophia are just getting back of your feet.”  
She chuckles but shakes her head. 

“I may be in a bit of a situation at the moment but I will never turn down someone who needs my help. You’re my friend Rick.”   
…  
Rick smiles and thinks that if Carol didn’t move in sooner, he might have gone crazy.


	3. Chapter Three -Holy Grail (Jay-Z feat. Justin Timberlake)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick's losing hope and so, his last resort doesn't seem so bleak after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter guys. Just to reiterate, this is NOT a oneshot. I've got more in store for you lovely people. Enjoy.

When Daryl Dixon left his small but homely cabin that morning, intent on buying some actual food to make a nice breakfast, he didn’t expect to see such a movie-like drama unfold before his eyes. Of course, no matter how much he wanted to defend the man and his children against the surly store owner, he couldn’t find it in himself to do so because …well because Merle dragged his ass outta there before he could.   
.  
“What the hell!” he hissed at his older brother Merle, who carried with him an infamous reputation which entailed shoplifting, small robberies, hunting on private properties and partaking in the buying and selling of drugs.   
.  
Daryl took one look at the stolen six pack and smokes and rolled his eyes vehemently.   
“Merle, you take that back right now!”  
..  
But the man just snickered like it was the most hilarious thought …doing the right thing. What a joke!   
.  
“Naw baby brother! Besides, owner’s got his own shit to deal with. Ain’t you seein’ how he’s goin’ off on that boy and his lil’ brats there?”   
Sighing Daryl turns back to see the young man and the store owner still yelling at each other in a desperate battle to be heard. Seemed like the boy was losing the fight.   
.  
*Earlier that day*

.  
“Hello?”  
.  
“Hey baby boy, how you been?” the silky smooth voice asks, its sultry tone sending chills down the other’s spine.  
.  
“What do you want Joe?”  
.  
There is a deceiving chuckle that tapers off into a strained silence.  
.  
“I love how you get straight to it baby.”   
.  
“Joe-”.  
“Okay fine. I was wondering about that offer I made you.”  
.  
“I knew it. And my answer is still no.”  
.  
“Oh come on baby boy, you’re the best one for the job.”   
.  
“I said no, Joe. I can’t …I can’t do that. I have Carl and Judith …and I don’t want them around stuff like that.”  
.  
There is a resounding sigh at the next end of the line before a soft ‘okay’ is whispered and then the line goes dead.   
.  
*NOW*

.  
Daryl looks on quietly as the commotion with the store’s owner and the young man ensues. He’s holding a baby in his arms and his boy is by his side, looking pissed off as hell but tired as well.   
,  
“Please Mr. Perry, I swear I can work, they won’t be any trouble.” The man pleads.  
.  
“And I thought I told you that I don’t want any of your brats creepin’ round my store and disturbing my customers!”   
.  
“They won’t disturb anyone I swear! Please Mr. Perry, let me work tonight. I need the money.” The man says the last part softer most likely out of shame, but he’s begging nonetheless.   
..  
“Fine! Get a babysitter for them and then you can work!” Mr. Perry growls, his pudgy face red with exertion and anger.  
.  
“I can’t afford one and you know it! This is the only time I’ve ever brought them to work, pl …” the man tries again but this time, he is silenced by the owner’s raised hand.   
.  
“Look Rick, you’re making my customers uncomfortable, just leave. You’re fired.”  
..  
The silence that follows is …tangible, almost. Daryl can swear that the man …Rick, has gone into catatonic shock. The place seems to go still for an eternity with the exception of the baby’s cries. She looks scared and tired and angry. And Daryl’s hackles raise at the man who doesn’t seem to care about anything but getting his precious job back! He doesn’t even seem to notice that his baby is screaming and crying and bawling her lungs out or the fact that his son seems completely embarrassed and is red in the face.   
..  
And that’s when his pathetic excuse of a brother yanks his ass out of the store, brandishing his stolen goods like if they were his pride or something. And they probably were.   
“I promise ta share baby brother.” Merle jokes, swatting Daryl’s hand away the minute he goes to snatch a cig from his fingers.   
.  
“C’mon man, let’s just go.” Daryl grunts, although his eyes are locked on the conundrum within the store’s glass walls.   
.  
They both get into the Ford pickup and Merle immediately goes for his stash inside a ripped hole in the truck’s seat. Daryl is on him before he can even light it up.  
“Naw Merle! Put that shit out! You want the cops on our asses again? What the hell man! You stupid?!”  
.  
“Aye! Watch yer stupid mouth Darylina! I can do whatever tha hell I want ta! Cops ain’t gonna get us boy!” his brother shouts, his voice taking on that natural slur that makes the average person think he’s high as fuck. But Daryl knows better. He has to, otherwise he’d be locked up in jail alongside his crack head brother all now.   
.  
“Cops caught ya about a hundred times already. What makes ya think they won’t catch ya again?”  
..  
“Cos yer dumb as shit baby bro. If anyone knows how to blindside them pig coppers, it’s ya big brother Merle. Now hush yer pansy ass and drive lil D.” he snorts ungraciously before snorting humorously at his joke about ‘lil D’.   
.  
Daryl just shakes his head, unimpressed by his brother’s stupidity. Just as Merle goes to make another of his ‘smart’ comments, the man, Rick bursts out of the store, pain and shame etched into his face as his son follows glumly. When they walk stiffly past the carpark Daryl frowns and thinks, no, surely he couldn’t be …walking back to his house could he?   
.  
He remembers Rick …the man who lost his baby daughter on the pavement, exposed to the cruel elements of the world. And thinking back on it makes Daryl mad, makes him feel that Rick deserves everything that’s being dealt to him at the moment. How the hell could you lose your baby? He’s sure making a bottle didn’t take that much out of a person that they end up misplacing their children.   
..  
But then he thinks, even if Rick is the worst parent he’s ever seen, that doesn’t mean that his kids should have to pay for his deeds. And so, he feels sorry for them …highly protective of the kids who could just as easily turn out like Merle. And no one deserved that.   
..  
“Oho, I know that look Darylina and I ain’t gonna let ya do it!” Merle begins but Daryl shakes his head, irritated.   
.  
“Hop in tha back Merle.” He growls, glaring devilishly at his brother with his glowing cobalt eyes that just scream murder. Typical little brother genetics that eventually make Merle groan with annoyance before flipping Daryl the bird and hopping into the tray of the pickup.   
.  
“Screw you man!”  
..  
About half an hour into their little trek back home, Rick’s ears perk up at the sound of an approaching engine. He can tell that its purposely slowing down behind him and he stops to turn around. It’s the same blue Ford pickup that he saw back at the store. His icy blue eyes narrow as a shaft of brilliant sunlight blinds him momentarily. He can’t see their faces but he’s already scoped out two men, one in the tray of the truck and the driver who looks a bit familiar.   
.  
As the vehicle rolls to an eventual stop beside them, Rick tightens his grip around Judy protectively while standing in front of Carl as well. He’s had a pretty shitty day and he hopes, no, prays that these Georgia natives don’t pick a fight. He’s already been beaten into the ground enough times today.   
.  
The driver squints a pair of the most unique sapphire eyes that shimmer in the evening sunlight and throws Rick for a minute. He’s amazed by their intensity and suddenly it clicks. It’s none other than the man who found Judy. He remembers the face, the shimmering copper hair and the eyes and the overall badass look. He recalls that the man rode a bike though.   
.  
“Can I help you?” he asks as politely as he can, hoping to not rub the man the wrong way …again.   
.  
“Need a lift?” Daryl mutters as best he knows how. He can hear Merle snorting amusedly from the back and his cheeks redden with the effort it takes to talk to new people.   
Rick’s face morphs into utter surprise, those huge blue eyes growing larger by the second. Daryl swears he sees them tear up but then Rick blinks furiously and smiles politely.  
..  
“Thank you, that’s very kind of you but we’re fine. It’s not that far.”  
.  
“Dad.” Carl whines from behind him and Rick looks totally apologetic.   
..  
“Kid looks tired. So does the baby. You sure about declining ma brother’s kindness?” Merle chirps from the tray and Daryl groans in annoyance.  
.  
After a few moments of trepidation, Rick agrees begrudgingly, letting Carl hop in first before entering himself. The ride down the street is tense and silent, so silent that it’s almost deafening. Rick feels utterly rude that he has nothing to say to the man who is being so kind to them and so he tries.   
“Um, I’m Rick by the way. This is Carl and Judith. I think you’ve met her already.” He struggles and then the air between them becomes sour.   
.  
Daryl tries to forget about it though, but his words come across as snarky and rude as he recalls the little child he almost ran over with his three hundred pound Harley Davidson on the pavement.   
.  
“Yeah, almost ran her over too.”  
He feels like a complete asshole when Rick lets out a small gasp and then shuts up, probably regretting accepting the offer for a ride.   
.  
“Dad, I’m hungry.” Carl whispers only for his father to hear and Rick’s face becomes even more sullen. Daryl pretends he didn’t hear the question and drives on, listening for Rick’s response.   
..  
“I know bud. When we get home ‘kay?” Rick’s soft voice reassures, sounding cracked and defeated.   
“So …no dinner tonight?’ Carl pushes, his childlike innocence making his father feel even worse and Daryl actually feels for him. What was Rick’s deal? He thought.  
“Sure buddy, just not …anything like our usual Thursdays.”  
There was nothing but silence after that.   
.  
When they arrive at Rick’s apartment, he murmurs a grateful thank you to Daryl and then bolts in shame. Carl does the same and then follows his father up to their place. 

*Later that night*  
.  
“Joe speaking.”  
.  
“Hello, it’s me.”  
.  
“Well hey there baby boy. What’s this about?”  
.  
“I um …I think I’m going to take you up on that …offer.”  
.  
There is a surprised pause before Joe speaks again, this time, his voice gleeful.  
“Meet me tomorrow at ten.”


	4. Chapter Four –Dance With the Devil (Breaking Benjamin)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick's life question is: Is it all really worth it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is Chapter 4 guys! Enjoy and ...try not to cry. I know im taking you guys on an emotional roller coaster, and i'm sorry Rick for doing this to you. But don't worry, your Knight n shining armor will be there soon. Love, Sam

Chapter Four –Dance With the Devil (Breaking Benjamin)  
.  
At ten on the dot the next morning, Rick sat at Greene’s Diner at a lone table for two, thoughts of Carl and Judith on his mind. Guilt burned like an inferno within him as he imagines what Judith and Carol are up to at home …and what Carl is doing at school. His throat constricts painfully and a small, longing whine escapes his lips, so he gulps down a drink of water and clasps his shaking palms in his lap.   
.  
The nerves were real as the sweat running down his neck at the moment and he knew that this wasn’t right. Meeting Joe right now wasn’t the right move …hell, anything involving Joe was always bad news. And Rick could think of a million reasons why he should just get his ass up at once and walk out before the man arrived but he found that his legs were paralyzed.   
.  
‘Get it together!’ he yells at himself in his head, running pale fingers through his brunette curls.   
.  
Just as he was about to bow his head in a meaningful prayer for mercy, a warm Southern voice spoke.  
.  
“Hello, can I get ya anything sir?” a petite blonde girl with huge green eyes asked, her brilliant smile innocent and pure.   
.  
“Uhh …” he began, but a deeper, raspier voice interrupted them, the girl shrieking in surprise when the man snuck up behind her in a weirdo-like way.   
.  
“He’ll take one o’ them chocolate cupcakes you got, with the strawberry on top.” Joe rumbled, his predatory gaze never once leaving Rick’s face. After a few moments of awkward silence the girl quickly nodded and scampered off to place their order.   
.  
“Joe,” Rick mutters softly, meekly, his eyes evasive even as the older man’s eyes were trailing his every move like a hawk ready to sink its talons into his soft skin. He goes quickly to rub the back of his neck, furiously blushing from the attention they’re getting from the other customers at the diner.   
.  
Joe, or the ‘Boss’ as he was known by his colleagues, was King County’s very own pimp and occasional drug dealer. He and his band of miscreants were known as The Claimers and they were notorious round these parts. They ran all the criminal activity on the streets and underground. Joe himself went out of his way to snatch up wayward teens and junkies who were otherwise social outcasts in and around the town. Rick doesn’t know why the older man took such a shining to him when he first moved to King’s, but ever since that day, he’s been propositioning him to indulge in his vices …as if Rick was desperate for his help. Back then, Rick might have agreed wholeheartedly that he didn’t need the man’s assistance, but now, he’s not so sure. He was in fact desperate …desperate for help, desperate for money …desperate for a friend who could comfort him when he’s scared and wipe his tears when he cries at night.   
.  
He’s not sure if Joe can be the person to wipe his tears and hold him close at night, in fact, he’s quite certain that Joe is the rough, authoritative type who looks down on the kind of softness and sensitivity that embodies Rick himself. He can only provide Rick with a means with which he can get fast money to support his children because at the end of the day, that’s his one true goal in life at the moment. They deserve the absolute best and all he’s been able to give them thus far is …well, nothing. And so, he’s tired of sitting on his ass and being pushed around at work, going home every day just to see more tears reflected in his son’s eyes. He’s tired and Joe’s his way out.   
.  
“What’s goin’ on in that pretty little head o’ yers baby boy?” Joe murmurs smoothly, nodding as the waitress sets their orders on the table; a chocolate cupcake with a strawberry and two large coffees, French vanilla.   
.  
“Ya didn’t have to do this,” he responds politely, digging into the decadent cake nonetheless.   
.  
“Stop, ya look starved darlin’. Besides, what kinda gentleman would I be if I didn’t buy ya somethin’ ta eat? We are on a date after all.” Joe answers with a dismissive flick of his wrist, his gleeful eyes practically undressing Rick as he munched on the sweet icing.   
.  
“A date?” the boy asks with surprise, as Joe sticks his hand into his plate and picks up the strawberry by the dark green stem.   
.  
Ignoring his stupid parroting, Joe brings the dark red fruit to the boy’s lips and exhales in ecstasy as he shuts up and stares at him from across the table, uncertainty clouding those big blue eyes.   
.  
“Joe, what-,” he begins to stutter but the man’s had enough.  
.  
“Bite it, go on,” he rasps, rubbing the tip of the fruit across his lips making them a darker shade of red.   
.  
Rick for his part looks completely calm and still on the outside, but on the inside, he’s a shaking, confused mess, wracked with nerves that just won’t stop throbbing inside his head. He goes to pluck the fruit from Joe’s fingers but the man just holds it out of his reach.   
.  
“No, just yer mouth boy. C’mon, just take one big, juicy bite,” Joe growls out, the pleasure he’s experiencing evident in his low-timbered voice that’s just dripping with sexual desire.   
.  
Trembling with nerves, Rick gulps and takes a deep breath before he opens up his mouth, his plump lips wrapping around the red, seeded fruit. Joe swallows hard as Rick closes his eyes at the sweet taste of the berry, a soft moan escaping the boy’s throat. The mere sexuality of the entire scene almost makes Joe want to yank his cock out and shove it in pretty boy’s mouth but he holds himself together before firmly pulling the half bitten fruit away from him and eating it himself.   
.  
“Good boy …” He compliments in a shuddering voice as Rick wipes his lips with the back of his hand, a deep blush staining his pale cheeks.   
.  
“Joe …I didn’t …I mean, I don’t …can you just tell me when I can start? I …” he mutters, casting his forlorn gaze downwards, angry at himself for sounding so desperate. He shut his mouth when the man let out a deep chuckle, clearly amused.  
.  
“Be quiet baby boy. Do you even know what this job requires of ya?”  
.  
When Rick shakes his head in answer, Joe doesn’t have the heart to tell the naïve boy that the question was rhetorical. He merely continues.  
.  
“Well, you do of course know what my job description entails …don’t you? You have a pretty face, a baby face if you will. Pale, creamy skin that’s soft and sensitive …and just right. Full, luscious lips that get all red and bruised when you bite em just right. And those eyes? Hmm, they’re huge, blue and innocent. A lot of my clients look for that in a boy and boy will they pay without even second guessing it. You’re worth a lot in this business Ricky.”  
.  
“Clients?” Rick whimpers after an exaggerated moment of baited silence.   
.  
“Yes Ricky,” Joe answers without missing a beat. “Pimping, prostitution, flat out whoring yourself around, call it whatever you want. But it’s what’s gonna pay your rent, pay your bills, keep Carl in school and pay for a good school for Judith. Keep that house o’ yers.”   
.  
He sees the way Rick flinches at the mention of his kids and it ignites a fire within him. His clouded eyes are suddenly so sharp and clear that they have lost all their mystery and all he was, was a man trying to fight for his family. He had him!  
.  
“So when do I start?”  
…  
When Rick returned home that evening, Carol knew something was wrong. She quickly put Judith to sleep and went to check on him, observing his slouched form on the couch before approaching him gingerly.   
.  
“Hey sweetie, how was your day?” she murmurs, leaning casually on the armrest near him.   
.  
He jerks his head up and smiles brilliantly at her, as if he’s somehow found the answer to life. But Carol knows that look all too well and can see through it …can see the darkened, deserted, agonizing, ‘no one will believe me, help me!’ pain in his eyes and her heart breaks all over for him.   
.  
“I got a job.”  
.  
“Okay.”   
.  
“But it’s …uh, a security firm. So, you know, late hours and …I don’t really want to bother you …” he continues and she immediately stops him.   
.  
“It’s okay sweetie, I can look after the kids. Besides, Carl and Sophia have become close friends so, I’m sure he’ll enjoy the company.”   
…  
That night, after Carol leaves and Judith is lost in snoozeland with her tiny thumb in her mouth, Rick goes to check on Carl and finds him awake, headset in his ears. He smiles wryly and sits next to the kid on the bed.  
.  
“Hey buddy,” he mutters, his heart aching at the instant cold shoulder he gets. “I know …that things haven’t exactly been …good around here. And it’s all my fault completely …I just wanted to tell you I got a job. Things will be bet-,” he’s shuts up when Carl glares at him icily.  
..  
“Better? Is that what you were going to say dad? How can you say that? How can you even be so sure? You sure you won’t get fired and embarrass us again?” he growls, pure hatred spewing from his speech that causes hot tears to spring into his father’s eyes.  
.  
Without saying another word, Rick takes his leave, much too afraid that Carl would see his tears. He goes into the shower knowing full well that Joe had given him some orders before he arrived for work the next night. With Joe’s words in mind, he stepped into the shower stall, razor scraping every last trace of dark hair from his body as the cold wetness poured over his head and Rick, no longer able to tell his tears from the water.


	5. Chapter Five –Til It Happens To You (Lady Gaga)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning; this chapter contains some heavy stuff ...proceed with caution.

Chapter Five –Til It Happens To You (Lady Gaga)  
The silver moon hung still in the velvet night sky, a handful of stars strewn all around it, shedding their frosty glitter all over King County. A cold wind blew through the quiet streets, carrying with it, the whispers of prayers and hopes and dreams that were once …real. Now they are all just that …dreams. The ones that come alive at night, the people, they’re all lost, he thought.   
.  
And so am I.   
.  
He tugs his threadbare coat tighter around his trembling frame as he walks down the dark alleyway, billows of fog blowing from his lips. He’s thankful for the chill since it gives him a reason for the severe shivers that wrack through his body. But he isn’t cold at all, no. He’s scared. He doesn’t know what’ll happen when he meets Joe tonight. Thousands of dreadful possibilities flood through his already messed up mind, thoughts of random men touching, caressing and fucking him. And he wants to throw up.   
.  
When he arrives at the Electric Chapel; a seedy bar on Patriot Street, Joe is already there, waiting excitedly for him, like a dog that’s just found a bone. His dark eyes are alight with booze and glee as he claps a meaty fist on Rick’s bony shoulder, ushering him inside the bar.   
.  
This is the first time Rick has ever seen the inside of this bar and it is every bit your typical seedy bar with grungy metal music playing in the background. There’s a red neon sign glowing brightly in one corner, the word’s ‘Electric Chapel’ written in Old English script. Men in biker gear are strewn around the barstools carelessly with tramps in half naked clothing and strappy heels on their laps. There are a lot of men as well, boys like him, Rick guesses, in tight, ripped jeans and t-shirts. Some were even shirtless while others were dressed skimpily in leathered jock straps, dancing and grinding on silver poles. This was undoubtedly, the devil’s den.  
.  
“C’mon Ricky! I already got some johns lined up for ya, they’s been waitin’ patiently.”   
.  
Rick’s world turns upside down in an instant and he hastily pulls himself from under Joe’s strong grasp. Sure, he was expecting that this was how things would go down …but he didn’t think it would happen as soon as he walked into the place. He even thought up scenarios of himself waiting like the other whores on the corner street, heckling and seducing men who rode by in their expensive fancy cars.   
.  
“Joe, I thought I had to …y’know, go out on the streets and …” he began but was cut off as Joe grabbed him around the shoulders again.   
.  
“Ah, hush darlin’! I knew today’s yer first and so I didn’t want ya out there just yet. So I took the liberty o’ findin’ some clients for ya. Least ya could do is thank me.”  
.  
“Um, thank you?” Rick replies dumbly, as he let himself be led up the stairwell of the bar, his mind kicking into overdrive. What were those men going to do to him? What kind of men were they? God, did he know what to do? He swore his heart was beating so fast in his chest that at any moment, it would give out.   
.  
When they reached the first door in the hallway, Joe looked back at him and winked before turning the doorknob and pushing it open. Rick let out an involuntary gasp, feeling like a wuss for doing so, before he peered into the room and saw …no one.   
.  
“Go on boy,” Joe whispered in his ear before landing a sharp smack to his ass making him jump and walk briskly into the room.   
.  
“There’s no one here.” He comments, wide eyes taking in the large bed in the center, the dimmed lights and the smoky scent of tobacco and weed coming from everywhere.   
.  
“I know. I am you first client Ricky.” Joe breathes out, a cloud of smoke escaping his lips as he puffs on a joint. Rick has no idea where it came from or how Joe lit it up so fast but he’s awfully confused. It just felt weird sleeping with …his boss.   
.  
“What-,” he begins but Joe presses a finger to his lips.   
“Shh, sweetheart …uh-uh, suck it.” Joe rasps, pressing his finger hard against Rick’s lips until he has no choice but to open his mouth and do as he’s told. The minute he opens up, Joe is sticking his appendage roughly down the boy’s mouth, pressing down hard on his tongue before trying to stick it down his throat. He moans in triumph as Rick gags, his eyes watering as saliva drips down his lips. He yanks himself off of Joe’s finger and coughs harshly.   
.  
Joe casually continues puffing on his joint but Rick can see how turned on he is, his arousal becoming very pronounced in his blue jeans. He moves to the bed, sitting on the bottom edge, legs wide open, still smoking carelessly.   
.  
“Take off yer clothes.”   
.  
Rick is a bit put off by his serious tone but he does his best, repeating the mantra ‘this is for your family’ in his head. He grips the hem of his white t-shirt and then slowly pulls it off, Joe moaning in unadulterated pleasure. Rick feels harshly exposed and cowers but Joe’s deep, rumbling voice stops him.   
.  
“Don’t be shy baby boy. Show me everything.”  
.  
At that point, not only did Rick lay his body bare for the other man to drink in, but he also bared his soul, his self-respect, his dignity and his insecurities. He’d never felt so …ashamed in his entire life. If Lori could just see him now, and see what she’d done to him …he wondered if it would even make a difference. He felt like Eve after she’d obeyed the serpent and was now facing Adam’s judgement. While Joe’s eyes traced his every move like the predator he was, Rick felt his very soul leak out of him and into the earth, never to return again.   
.  
“Come to me.”   
.  
He obeys and walks until he’s directly between Joe’s spread legs, the rough material of the man’s jeans brushing his naked skin in a delicious yet sinful way. There’s something about the mere fact that he was so naked and vulnerable while this man was fully clothed. It made the man seem so much more powerful. And him, so small.   
.  
“Please.” He whimpers, feeling the older man’s rough, calloused fingers brush across his thighs before sliding up higher and onto his butt, squeezing them almost experimentally before giving him a sharp slap.   
.  
“Shh, c’mon, sit on daddy’s lap baby boy.” Joe rumbles, unbuckling his belt even as Rick moves around to spread both legs on either side of his hips, placing his pert ass right in the man’s lap, his hard cock rubbing sensually into Rick’s skin. Joe took one last pull of his joint before dropping it uncaringly to the floor and stomping it out, his eyes locked on Rick’s. Bringing both hands to the boy’s ass he issued another round of harsh slaps that had Rick whimpering and moaning and writhing in his lap.   
.  
Unable to control himself any further, he gripped the young brunette by the waist and slammed him down hard on the bed, tearing at his clothes in an instant. He could see the boy’s eyes widen with fear as he hastily donned his shirt and jacket and his jeans right after.   
.  
“Come and suck it boy.” He demanded, stroking his thick, long cock with a tight fist while the other hand fisted in the boy’s dark curls, forcing him to his hands and knees, his face mere inches away from the straining appendage. Growling, he shoved the boy’s face into his crotch, revelling in the desperate cries for ‘wait!’ and ‘stop!’   
.  
“Shut it and open up!” he hissed, sliding his thumb forcefully into Rick’s mouth, pushing his jaw down then shoving his cock in, deep. He gagged and scrambled to pull away but was stopped by a bruising grip in his hair that yanked him further on Joe’s dick. He made the fatal mistake of tightening his jaws in order to force the appendage out of his mouth which inadvertently caused his teeth to graze painfully on it, making Joe grunt out loud.   
.  
“Ah fuck!” he snarled yanking himself out and fixing Rick with fierce eyes.   
.  
“I’m sorr-,” he began to apologize but was quickly shut up by a sharp slap that shifted his face harshly to the left. The slap left him reeling, the right side of his face throbbing in pain, dark blood dripping from a small cut on his lower lip.  
.  
“Shut up bitch! I’ve been taking it easy on ya! But now’s time for the rough stuff! If it’s one thing I teach ya tonight, it’s how ta suck cock and how ta suck it good!”   
.  
He spent the next ten minutes making the inexperienced boy choke and gag hard on his cock, saliva dripping from those fuck-reddened lips. God, did Rick even know how precious he was? How beautiful he looked with a man’s hard, shiny cock slipping and sliding in and out of his bright red lips? And not to mention those outstanding, gorgeous, bright blue eyes gazing tearfully up at him as he sucked dutifully. It took everything in him not to just blow his load in his mouth right that moment. But he held it together because he wouldn’t dare lose this opportune moment to take the boy’s virginity.  
.  
“Turn around bitch.” He shuddered, as the boy obeyed and faced the other way face down in the pillows, ass high up for Joe to do as he pleased. Truth was, Rick was so scared out of his mind, that he obeyed for fear that he might get bitch slapped again. Now was the even harder part of this whole experience and he almost believed that Joe would be gentle just for the sake of his situation. He was wrong.   
.  
He heard Joe spit into his hand, could hear the slick sounds of his wet fist wrapped tightly around his cock, jacking it a few times before brushing the head against his virgin entrance. Then he felt the man insistently trying to force his dick through his unprepared hole and gasped, trying to move away from the feeling before he felt a rough hand in his hair, yanking it hard.   
.  
“No!”  
.  
‘Shut it and suck! Get em nice and wet!” Joe growled, shoving two fingers into Rick’s mouth roughly before pulling them out and carelessly slipping one of the slick fingers into the boy’s hole. He heard a muffled scream that quickly morphed into a sob as the boy reached a hand back to grip his wrist and shove his finger out of him but he was relentless. He slapped the pestering hand away and continued to finger him hurriedly, just bursting to fuck Rick into the mattress.  
.  
When he felt that he’d stretched the tight heat enough, he slicked up his length with saliva and started pushing again, the boy’s pained whimpers accenting every inch that slid in.   
.  
“Ahh fuck.” He breathed out, when his entire length was buried deep inside the body beneath him. The first sharp thrust made Rick scream out and cry for him to stop but it was futile. The man had waited too long for this moment to just pull out on account of being too rough with him. Rick would learn to take it and take it rough. After all, he was now his bitch. He owned R ick.   
.  
“Stop …God! Joe please!” he sobbed into the pillows, the much larger man placing all his weight on top of him so that he couldn’t squirm away. The feeling was excruciating and he was certain that he’d never felt something like it before. The hard length opened him up as if it was splitting him wide open. Even his screams and cries sounded hollow since his mind was focused so much on the intense pain in his lower back. A tight grip round his throat brought him back to his senses and he suddenly felt Joe’s chest pressed firmly to his back, the pain in his lower back growing stronger.   
.  
“You’re doin’ this fer Carl and Judy remember?” the man whispered cruelly in his ear and suddenly, his body went limp, his mind blank. All the pain and agony and even the small pleasure he was feeling every time the man’s cock drove into his prostate, all disappeared and all he could do was lay there and take it. Because this was all for them.   
.  
Joe’s thrusts increased as his breathing got raspier and more rigid and even a virgin like Rick could tell that he was nearing his release. He inhaled deeply and prepared himself for when the man came inside him. it came soon enough and Joe pushed him flat into the mattress before covering his battered body with his larger frame, holding him almost like a lover.  
.  
“Oh fuck yes! Yeah baby boy! Feel that? Hmm? Oh fuck yeah.”   
.  
Rick moaned at the new sensation of the man’s warm seed filling him in thick spurts and bucked in a last attempt to shake him off. It was useless. Joe just held him there until both their bodies came down from the high and the heat dissipated, the sweat cooling slowly. He felt Joe’s rough beard nuzzling his neck and his jaw, planting gentle kisses almost like a lover and his tears started again. The sudden burst of emotions confused him but he couldn’t stop if he wanted to.  
.  
“My sweet boy.” Joe murmured stroking his brunette curls softly, endearingly, as he got up and put on his clothes that were strewn on the floor. Rick winced as a wad of bills hit his back, and then Joe was out of the room.   
.  
“You tell me it gets better,  
It gets better, in time.  
Til it happens to you,  
You don’t know,  
How it feels.”


	6. Chapter Six –Carry On (FUN)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The more things change, the more they stay the same -(Some smart person)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, it's me again. So i know i never mentioned age, but Rick is like 24 and Daryl's like....27-8. but he's older than Rick. Anyway, here is chapter six! I'm really excited about this fic and your reviews are always appreciated. ENJOY and remember to .....LOOK AT THE FLOWERS!

Chapter Six –Carry On (FUN)  
The younger Dixon had never once forgotten about Rick Grimes or his son Carl or his daughter Judith. Even days, weeks after their second encounter, he had been turning Rick’s situation over and over in his head, trying to decipher the mysterious life the blue eyed man led. He simply couldn’t make sense of it however. He couldn’t see how someone as upper-middle class-looking as Rick, who had a sort of British flair to him and was drop dead gorgeous to boot, could be so unfortunate. He must’ve done something terrible to deserve such a life, Daryl had surmised after two weeks of deliberation.   
.  
But even that thought seemed illogical and unfitting to Daryl who usually was a good judge of character and could tell black from white and even the grey in people. When he looked at Rick, all he could see was white. Pure, good white, there was no grey with him. Some subtle thing about him spoke in volumes to Daryl’s soul and told him that there was innocence within those blue eyes that pleaded for someone …anyone to hear him out. Listen to his story. But no one seemed to …not even Daryl.  
.  
He always felt deep, solemn regret about that day when he cancelled out his kindness by giving him and his kids a ride home and then acting like a snarky bitch when he tried to be polite and introduce himself. There was an underlying pain in that small gasp when he mentioned that he’d almost run over little Judith which told him that Rick had already felt like the world’s worst father when the incident happened. He just rubbed salt in the wound.   
.  
Needless to say, that Daryl was eager to run into Rick at least one more time so that he could set things right and apologize for his snarky behaviour. But during the past few weeks he hadn’t seen nor heard even the slightest about the man. He passed by the small apartment a few times and soon became friends with Rick’s neighbour, Carol, who was in a situation herself. He even spent a few days there, playing with Judy and Carl and Sophia and talking to Carol about her life and his life and Rick’s life. Carol mostly just told him about who Rick was, as a person and from what he’d heard thus far, Rick sounded pretty much like a gentle, sensitive soul. Nothing like his mental picture of the man. She didn’t delve deeper into Rick’s personal life however and reassured Daryl that it was something Rick was going to have to tell him himself.   
.  
He hoped that Rick would tell him now that he was staring at the man, trudging almost zombie-like towards him on the sidewalk. His soft brunette curls were dishevelled and in absolute ruin, their shine, lacklustre and drooping. His eyes were downcast as was his face and he looked terribly sunken in, those pale cheekbones sticking out in a harsh way. Homeless, Daryl thought, he looks homeless. Where the hell did he work again? Carol said security …maybe that’s why he looks like a true hobo.   
.  
“Hey man.” He greets and frowns when the man barely registers his voice.   
.  
When he looks up, Daryl gasps slightly, at the deep, red bruise he’s sporting on the usually plump, pink lips. Did he get into an altercation at work? It was likely to happen …right?   
.  
“R …Rick? It’s Daryl, do you …you alright?” he ends up asking, when those big, aqua eyes search his face beseechingly, almost as if they were pleading for him to wake him from whatever nightmare was going on in his head at the moment.   
.  
“D ..Daryl? Yes, …yes of course. What’s …how are you?” he replies, frowning hard as he looks around trying to get his bearings as well as stop his head from spinning so damn much.   
.  
‘Yeah, I’m …better than you is all I can say.” Daryl jokes and immediately regrets it when Rick’s face crumbles into sadness. “Sorry, didn’t mean it. Look, you wanna get some breakfast? I was just going to Greene’s.”  
.  
Rick begins to shake his head, mumbling something about not having the money to buy breakfast but Daryl shakes his head and says that it’s all on him. The man looks suspicious and demands what Daryl is looking for in return and Daryl can only stare with his mouth slightly agape.   
.  
“Nothin’. Jesus. I guess I jus’ wanted to apologize for being such a dick to you the other day.” He tries and Rick’s eyes suddenly flicker with life at the memory. He’s suddenly blushing in the coy way that he does and is shrugging timidly. He’s still not sure. But Daryl won’t take no for an answer.  
.  
Fifteen minutes later, Daryl and Rick are seated at a table with Daryl’s other friends; a woman named Michonne, a blonde called Andrea and Aaron and Eric, boyfriends. They were all talking and laughing and poking fun at each other like close friends would and Rick couldn’t help but feel completely removed from the warm scenario. He’s sitting with Daryl on one side while Andrea and Michonne are directly opposite them and Aaron and his boyfriend are seated adjacent to them, in two borrowed chairs. Just the pure, friendly laughter is getting to him in a way that seems like it’s unreal and that he’s going to lose the moment by waking up and finding himself in that fucking dark room again, with Joe.   
.  
His stomach turns frightfully at the mere thought of the man and he thinks he’s about to throw back up the chocolate chip pancakes that Daryl’s just forced him to digest. But then, a cool hand touches him through his threadbare grey t-shirt and he’s jolted back to the present. His head twists quickly to his left and he notices Daryl regarding him with dark, shining, sapphire eyes. Somehow he understands that the man is silently asking him if he’s okay and he nods imperceptibly.   
.  
“So Rick, are you new in town?” Andrea asks, forking up some hash browns as she pokes him with questions.   
.  
“Yeah. I’ve been here for a month and a half now.” He murmurs softly, trying to shy away from Michonne’s suspicious stare. Her dark, round eyes are regarding him with so much intensity that he feels naked under them. Something tells him that she’s reading him and he’s not quite sure he likes what she’s concluding.   
.  
“And you haven’t found yourself a girl yet?”   
.  
“Andrea!” Michonne hisses dangerously at her friend who has the decency to look ashamed.  
.  
“I’m sorry, I was just curious. I wasn’t trying to be rude …just thought, that a good lookin’ guy like you would have the ladies runnin’ you down.”  
.  
“Andrea!” they all groan embarrassed at her and she blushes before muttering a quick sorry, and bowing her head into the breakfast.   
.  
Rick smiles tiredly and shakes his head. “It’s okay. I’m not really lookin’ for anyone at the moment.”   
.  
“You don’t have to answer her stupid-ass questions Rick. I got your back.” Michonne smiles and he feels a deep relief that she’s not reading him anymore. He smiles and nods, Daryl grinning at him from the left. Rick’s noticed but he hasn’t made much out of it, the way Daryl keeps glancing over at him curiously, his ocean blue eyes sparkling with …something. He feels his cheeks grow heated and looks down at his plate, a soft, shy smile on his face.   
.  
He thinks back to earlier that morning, when the dawn was just breaking upon the earth and the sky was still dark and solitary. He’d bundled up the bills Joe had carelessly flung at him and shoved it in his half shredded messenger bag. There was a shower in the room that he’d practically thrown himself into the minute Joe was out of the room. The dark bruise on his lip stung like hell under the cold shower, and so did the …other wounds. His eyes caught sight of a weak, diluted red substance just as it ran down the drainage and the sudden gravity of what had just happened hit him with full force.   
.  
He’d been raped. By Joe. But …he got paid for it, so that meant that …he consented. This was his job after all. A tiny sob had escaped him then, kneeling sick, crouched in that confined cubicle with icy water pouring mercilessly down his back. Thankfully Joe had one of his goons inform him that he was done for the night and that he should get some rest for the next time. The mere thought that he would be going through something so horrific again made him hurl all the contents of his stomach right there on the bathroom floor. The nasty feeling didn’t stop there either and Rick thought about what Daryl would say if he knew that he puked in two trash barrels right before he saw him that morning.   
.  
“Hey, where’d you go?” Daryl’s soft yet concerned voice suddenly murmured next to him.   
.  
He shakes his head attempting to get out of the dreary place and offers the man a weak smile. “I’m fine.”   
.  
“You wanna head home? I know you must be tired …with the new job and all that.” Daryl offers sincerely and Rick feels like shit all over again. But how did he …?  
.  
“Carol told me that you work in security.” The man reveals, probably reading the dumb look on his face. He nods anyway, feeling relief.   
.  
“Yeah, well I guess I’ll be seeing you.” He says, about to slide out of his seat and disappear as discreetly as he can when Daryl grabs his wrist. He flinches hard but Daryl doesn’t notice.  
.  
“Hold up. What you thought I was gonna let ya walk?” the man jokes, sliding out of the seat after him. “Later guys.” He bids his friends as Eric and Aaron move to take their seats.  
.  
“Bye boys.” Andrea waves almost seductively winking at Rick who blushes at the attention. Michonne just shakes her head and rolls her eyes as she bids them goodbye.

…  
Back on the road in Daryl’s Ford pick-up, Rick feels weird. The silence between them is comfortable yet charged with possibility. He doesn’t want to seem rude by being wilfully silent yet he thinks that if he speaks he’ll be put down with another snarky comment.   
.  
“You get that on the job?” Daryl suddenly asks and Rick breathes a sigh of deep relief, thankful that he doesn’t have to start the conversation. He’s confused though until the man gestures to his lips and he flinches with the memory of Joe bitch slapping him for fucking up his blowjob.   
.  
“Yeah, it was …just a stupid accident.” He jokes, desperate to pass this off. He knows that no one can ever find out what he’s doing or who he’s working for. He could never live with the shame and he can’t bear the thought of his children being ridiculed because their dad’s a …prostitute. He couldn’t even fathom what Daryl would say if he found out the truth. Or Carol. Or any of Daryl’s friends. They looked like a decent group of respectable people and he didn’t feel like he deserved their company. Hell, Andrea was a lawyer and Michonne was a cop and Eric and Aaron owned their own business. And what was he?   
.  
“You alright?” Daryl suddenly asks and his deep voice drags him back to the present where he’s sitting in the man’s car and he’s looking over at him with nothing but concern in those sapphire eyes and they’re parked outside of his apartment.   
.  
“Mhm.” He answers timidly, looking at Daryl’s chest with stubborn focus even as the man is staring right into his eyes.   
.  
“I …really am sorry Rick.” He murmurs and it sounds weird coming from him. But Rick doesn’t care. Daryl’s his friend now and he’s happy with that.   
.  
“It’s okay Daryl, really. I mean, you were right about me being a shitty dad anyway.” He jokes wryly. But Daryl grunts in disapproval.  
.  
“Nah. That aint true and I see it now. Yer a good dad.”  
.  
Daryl says the words so sincerely that it makes Rick want to cry and he’s certain that an annoying wetness springs into his eyes as he smiles at the man with deep relief and joy that he hasn’t felt in a while.


	7. Chapter Seven –Look On My Face (Christopher Martin)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Don't you judge me by the look on my face.   
> Even though i smile,  
> it is only for a while,  
> my tears could fill the River Nile,  
> But i keep my struggles underneath my smile." -(Christopher Martin)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK guys! Here is Chapter 7. I hated and loved this chapter for some inexplicable reason. Don't know how to explain it. As for Rick and Daryl and Carl's ages it wasn't really a huge part of this story to say that it played a part in the storyline really ...but, because i love you ALL and because its so confusing, i shall go with this; Daryl is season 3 Daryl. Rick is season 1 Rick and Carl is season 4 Carl. :3 Once again, i present to you, Chapter 7. Enjoy my lovely people!

Chapter Seven -Look On My Face (Christopher Martin)  
.

A month and a half into his experience as a whore in Joe’s Electric Chapel, Rick finds the proverbial silver lining amidst the black clouds that often shroud him in that dark abyss that is his ‘room’. He meets numerous men with colourful backgrounds and personalities who have so many wonderful stories to tell. And he listens to each of them, laying his head gently across their chests as their rough hands caress his naked shoulder. Some would even stroke careful fingers through his hair, just the way he likes, eliciting soft purrs from his lips as they drone on about their lives, their wives and their work.   
.  
He feels a twinge of sadness and shame when they mention their kids and how they love their wives but need just a little excitement every once in a while. He feels like the outside woman or man who ruins families and takes away children’s happiness. He feels like Phillip. The man who took away all of Lori’s affection from both him and Carl and Judy. It’s ironic, really, when he thinks about it and he can’t help but feel like a total hypocrite. He’s doing the same thing that Lori and Phillip had done to him and it wasn’t right.   
.  
He’s currently being held within strong, muscled arms, his head on a tattooed chest, post-coitus, as he listens to the man he knew as Caesar Martinez. They’re both sweating from the exertion of rough sex, Rick’s breath coming out in soft gasps whilst Martinez is breathing steadily, the firm sound of his heartbeat lulling Rick to sleep. The Latino is a regular of his and he oddly enough feels quite comfortable with the man. He wasn’t excessively rough like so many of the others, like Tobin and Pete, and he listened to him whenever he wanted things to slow down a bit. In other words, Martinez was human. And he made Rick feel the same way. With him, it wasn’t just a ‘wham-bam, thank you ma’am’ situation.   
.  
“What’s your favourite movie?” the man asks him with a snort, fingers buried in his hair.  
.  
“Anything involving Leonardo DiCaprio.” He replies, giggling fanatically as the man’s chest rumbles with laughter.   
.  
“Ha, I should’ve known you were a romantic.” He jokes.  
.  
Prodding his chest playfully, Rick pouts. “Not every movie he does is romantic. I liked ‘Inception’.” He tries to reason, sighing in soft pleasure as he feels the man’s rough stubble brush his forehead, planting a kiss there.   
.  
“Yeah and that whole thing was about him tryna’ set things right with his super-psycho, super-dead wife.”  
.  
“Alright fine, you win.” Rick concedes, still very much in pout mode as he turns his back to Martinez in dramatized stubbornness. He yelps in sheer joy when he feels the man turning him over to lie on his back before settling on top of him fully, their naked bodies pressed together warmly. He right out laughs when the Latino almost slips off of him but then steadies himself again before diving in for a deep kiss -one which Rick allows him fully.   
.  
“Yer a little minx. Ya know that?” the man jokes, touching noses with the cute, blue-eyed prostitute he never meant to become enamoured with. But Rick was gorgeous despite the one too many bruises he always seemed to sport every other day. He had the biggest, clearest most blue eyes he’d ever seen. And his lips were made for sin. They were bright pink, plump and succulent and they should really be illegal but he wasn’t the law. His skin was soft and smooth, and almost virgin-like. There were no traces of hair anywhere; he looked like a waxed sculpture.   
.  
But Martinez didn’t only fancy the boy’s beautiful body, no. Rick was as pure and innocent as they came. He had a terribly cute and lame sense of humour, was quick witted and saw the good in people. All that meant to Martinez was that Rick simply didn’t belong there. He didn’t fit in as one of Joe’s exploits and he certainly was much too precious to be someone’s sex toy and plaything. He couldn’t imagine how someone like Rick could end up like that and he was curious to find out.   
.  
“You ever gonna tell me how you ended up working for Joe?” he rumbles, kissing his temple as he rested his cheek on that smooth pale chest, the boy’s heart beating fast and wild beneath his ear. Rick groans in distress and he winces, hating to make him uncomfortable.   
.  
“I know yer tired of hearin’ me ask that question baby. But, I wanna know. Every time I’m with you I keep wondering how the hell someone like you …ends up with someone like Joe.” He reasons before running his tongue over Rick’s left nipple and biting gently. He hears the boy hiss quietly; can feel his slender body arch deeply beneath his heavy one and he slides his hand down that showing ribcage, down that slim waist until he reaches his hip and he digs his fingers in. Rick’s hand goes to the Latino’s head, holding him closer as he brings his lips to the other nipple, biting harder on the sensitive feature, making the blue-eyed brunette whimper like a small child.   
.  
“I have responsibilities Caesar.” Is all he mumbles, before the man completely engulfs him with his masculinity, every kiss and every touch taking Rick to some wonderful, far-away place where he can forget about what he has to do in order to provide for his family. This is why he loves Martinez’s company so much. The man’s attention and care makes him feel wanted; instead of breaking him down and making him feel like less of a human being like Joe knows how to do so well. He looks at him sympathetically and nods.  
.  
“Okay baby. I won’t ask again.”

…  
For three months Daryl has found himself fully immersed in the lives of Rick Grimes and Carol Peletier and their kids. He’s taken them out fishing twice, carried them on a hunting expedition with his brother Merle and he’s even taken Rick to dinner a few times. Daryl’s a hunter and he’s not stupid. He could tell two weeks into Rick’s new job that the man was exhausted. The hunter noticed the subtle changes in the younger man’s facial features like the sunken in cheeks, the dark bruises under his dimly lit blue eyes and how his lips were chapped and faded. These days, the man’s just looking like the mere shadow of who he used to be. Sure he’d been able to pay their rent and buy Carl and Judith some nice stuff with his evergreen pay checks, but suddenly Daryl finds that he misses the light in those crystal blue eyes.   
.  
Even as he looks across the table at the man he’s come to grow so fond of, Rick just won’t look him in the eye. His head is bent, his gaze focused on the menu in front of him and his shoulders slumped with all the finesse of the down-trodden. They’re in a fancy restaurant tonight as Daryl had promised Rick a few nights ago, while they were at Carol’s. The topic up for discussion had been Rick’s ‘day-offs’ or lack thereof. It was only Carol’s insistence that Rick get some time off to rest and relax and have some fun, now that things seemed to be going so well. And Rick had to admit that things were going really well.   
.  
He had turned over his recent fortunes in his head over and over, trying to make sense of it and all he could think of was that his luck started to change the minute Daryl Dixon had stepped into his life. The man had a rough and catty way about him but he was in no way obnoxious or loud, like his brother, Merle. He was also very sincere and caring and treated Rick almost as if he were precious crystal ware that needed to be handled with the utmost care and love. Such a stark contrast to the way he was handled by Joe and his clients. But then again, Joe was also the reason he’d been able to support his family. And that’s where the silver lining to his black cloud ended abruptly. See, the only reason he was able to buy the nice things he had and had managed to pay his rent on time was because of Joe. And as long as he worked under Joe, he could never be a free man. Of course the man hadn’t clapped him in irons and sentenced him to hard labour but he might as well have. Because Joe was relentless, cunning and unforgiving. He worked in ways that made Rick seem completely powerless of his own life and it scared him to death.   
.  
It scared him to death because he wanted to live again. To love again and to be happy in love. Just like Martinez said the last time he had paid him a visit; everyone deserved love and warmth and comfort. The man had even insisted that he –prostitute that he was- deserved a chance at love and that dozens of men would readily want to be with him. He wasn’t fool enough to think that the man was right about him deserving anything, but …looking at Daryl Dixon across the table from him now; he wanted to give it a shot. Daryl had been there these past few months when he needed him or Carol needed his help or hell, when Carl wanted to do something fun and he himself couldn’t make it because of work. There was also genuine care and compassion in every gaze, every touch regardless of if it was just a casual, friendly pat on the shoulder. Daryl got to him; got under his skin. And he wanted love again.   
.  
“I’d call ya an introvert but even when yer inside yer head I can tell what yer thinkin’.” Daryl suddenly comments with a wry smirk.   
.  
Rick returns the smirk with a deep blush as he twirls his fork around some Chinese-style noodles on his plate. “Oh yeah? And what m’I thinking about?”   
.  
The rugged man narrows his electric blue eyes at him thoughtfully, pink tongue peeking out the corner of his lips as he assesses his company. “Yer thinkin’ …bout squirrels.”  
.  
Rick swore that he was about to laugh hysterically at that but ends up choking on his coke before Daryl is rushing over to him and patting his back firmly as he sputters like a total moron. He notices the other customers at the restaurant looking at them judgementally, as if they didn’t belong there but he could care less as he is now acutely aware of a strong and firm hand on his lower back, gently rubbing up and down.   
.  
“Geez man, all I said was squirrels.” Daryl jokes, a brilliant smile on his kisser. And boy does Rick want to kiss him right at that moment.   
.  
“That’s why it’s so damn funny! Squirrels? Really? Of all the random thoughts.” He giggles, actual tears of joy springing into his eyes. It honestly wasn’t that funny and Rick would tell Daryl that later but for now, Rick decided that he would just let himself enjoy this friendly, casual banter between them. Even if the remark did catch him entirely by surprise. Daryl gives him one last pat on the back before returning to his seat, glaring around at the nearby customers and then turning back to Rick, a cute smile on his handsome face.   
.  
“I take it yer fond of squirrels?” he snorts, drinking his own fill of coke.   
.  
“Not really. I mean, I like em. They’re cute.” He admits, shaking his head in abstract light-heartedness.   
.  
“You’re cute.” Daryl lets slip and then catches Rick’s surprised face before ducking in shy but unapologetic guilt.  
.  
Rick though, is totally smitten by the complement and tries to hide his happy blush behind his hands that are then pried away from his face by Daryl who is by his side again. It’s like playing peek-a-boo Rick thinks as he finally stares directly into Daryl’s bejewelled eyes and his heart stops.   
.  
“C’mon. Let’s get outta here.”


	8. Chapter Eight –Innocence (Avril Lavigne)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions and ...stuff and .......thangs are at an all time high ...or low. *sobs quietly into a bottle of JD's*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what is real anymore!!!!! I swear ...i'm going cray cray! BTW who else is going nuts over the fact that February 14th is ....so near???? I'm in a panic!!!!

Chapter Eight –Innocence (Avril Lavigne)  
.  
Twenty-three minutes.   
.  
It had been twenty-three minutes since Daryl had whisked him up and out of that semi-fancy Chinese restaurant and they were still on the road in the man’s grungy pick-up. Rick swore he was going to rip his hair out by the roots if Daryl didn’t tell him where the hell they were going right now!  
.  
“Daryl c’mon!” he whined impatiently like a little brat.   
.  
“I’m right here Rick.”  
.  
“I know that!” The younger man pouts and Daryl finds him completely endearing.  
.  
The rough and tumble redneck just snorts fondly at him before turning into a dirt road off the edge of the woods. The orange noon sky was just slowly transitioning into a shaded canvas of soft pinks, peaches and lilacs, the shadows of forest trees becoming darker and elongated whilst tiny speckles of stars began to twinkle around a half-crescent moon. It was picturesque and beautiful and absolutely perfect. Daryl brought the truck to a slow stop as they arrived at a clearing in the forest where the leaves littered the earthy floor like a soft blanket and there was a non-existent canopy of sheer sky above them. The moon shone brilliantly right there, so close it almost seemed unnatural.   
.  
“What were you sayin’?” Daryl quietly whispers in Rick’s ear before getting out of the truck and walking round to open Rick’s door. The young man got out without even realising Daryl’s perfect gentleman act, his big blue eyes perfectly wide in amazement and wonder. But Daryl doesn’t mind at all. It was so special seeing someone appreciate one of his favourite places in the entire county and it was even more special that that person was Rick.   
.  
“Oh my God …it’s so …unreal.” Rick gasps, breathless. But deep down he knows that words alone are insufficient to even begin describing this place. It seemed untouched, virgin and …sacred. He looks away from the skies and notices the wide smile on Daryl’s face that he’s never seen before. Yes, he thinks. This must be the place.   
.  
And in some weird way, Rick feels like he doesn’t belong there. Just like back at the diner, sitting amongst Daryl’s friends …he didn’t belong there. Everything that makes Daryl or surrounds him is all so pure and innocent and …lovely. This place was sacred because only Daryl seemed to know about it and only he had understood its true meaning. This was the place Daryl would wander off to whenever he needed to feel real again. This place made it okay. Made it all okay again.  
.  
And just like that, unexpected tears spring into his eyes and he doesn’t understand them for a while. His mind reels memories inside his head like a silver screen, replaying everything that has happened to him since Lori’s betrayal. He recalls the hurt, the anger and the agony and then, the shame, the helplessness and the loneliness. It’s everything that he’s ever felt all coming back in the form of an emotional aftershock that almost rocks him to his knees. He doesn’t fall though.  
.  
In the moment of weakness, he turns his teary gaze to see Daryl leaning back comfortably against his truck, soft sapphire eyes observing him with soft patience. He goes to him then, long meaningful strides that take him from the middle of the clearing to Daryl’s truck in a matter of timelessness and suddenly he’s crashing into the man, burying his face in that strong chest while wrapping frail arms around his lean torso. He feels Daryl take both hands out of the front double pockets of his sweater before he returns the embrace, those muscled arms going round his back, squeezing tightly.   
.  
He sobs hard into the warmth of Daryl’s chest, fingers digging deep into the thin cotton of that earth-scented sweater, searching for purchase. He’s literally clinging to the man’s body, much too afraid to let go …for fear of falling. He’s been on the ground for too long that holding on to Daryl now not only feels like safety and strength …but it also feels like baptism. Daryl, in more ways than one has become his saving grace. And all he wants is to hold on to this moment like it’s his oxygen. Daryl would be the one to save him from drowning in his own tears.   
.  
He doesn’t realise that he’s shaking until Daryl murmurs a soft ‘hey’ into his hair and he finds himself standing an arms-length away from him, moonlit sapphires staring deep into him. So deep that he looks away, unable to bear his soul any more than he already has for this man.  
.  
“Rick …I don’t pretend to know that you’re hurtin’. I don’t pretend to know that somethin’s botherin’ you and you won’t say a thing because you think you deserve it. I don’t pretend to know that sometimes you feel like you’re the worst person walking the earth right now. Because I do. I do know that you think those things. And I know that you’re hurtin’ and somethin’ is botherin’ you. You can tell me, hey, look at me.”   
.  
Rick feels the calloused palm brush his cheek gently, trying desperately to get his attention but he can’t look at him. He doesn’t have the strength to meet those honest, blue eyes of Daryl Dixon because if he does, he’s afraid he’ll give all of his secrets away. He pulls his face away from that caring touch only to have it replaced by the other hand, tilting his face up to Daryl’s. He sees the earnestness in the man’s gaze and he lets out a wrangled sob, forcing himself to look down again. He physically doesn’t have the strength or courage to face the brutal tenderness that is Daryl and so he whimpers out a pleading ‘no’ at the third attempt to make him look up.   
.  
“Why?” Daryl asks sadly, still brushing his thumb across Rick’s cheek, wiping away the tears that refuse to stop running.   
.  
“I …can’t. I can’t …I can’t, I …” he chokes out trying desperately to give a reason why he ‘can’t’ but all that ends up coming out is an anguished series of ‘I can’t’s’.  
.  
“Yes you can. Look at me Rick.” Daryl insists with a surety in his voice that forces Rick to finally look up at him even if it’s Daryl’s palm that’s holding his gaze there. It becomes silent then, save for the soft sniffles that are coming from Rick as he tries to contain himself. Tries to listen to what Daryl has to say.  
.  
“Whatever’s goin’ on …you can tell me. And we’ll fix it. I promise I will fix it Rick. Just tell me. You have friends now and Carol’s practically family now. If you won’t tell me then tell her. We all care about you-,”   
.  
“Fix it? I can’t be fixed Daryl. It’s already …done.” Rick interrupts, looking away again. He was so close to telling Daryl that he’d already been tainted by Joe and Pete and so many other men that he’s lost count. But he shuts his mouth and looks away. If ever he wants to keep their friendship, Daryl can never know about that dark part of his life. Ever.   
.  
“I don’t believe that.” Daryl counters with a firm edge to his voice before he wraps his left arm round Rick’s lower back, leaving the other on his cheek. “Kiss me.” He says; the simple intonation of the order a complete parallel to the fiery heat that’s in the meaning of the words. Rick’s blue eyes widen in shock at first that then tapers off into slow acceptance and then …uncertainty. At Rick’s hesitance, he speaks again in clearer terms.   
.  
“If you really don’t want to, if you’re sure that this ain’t what you want then you don’t have to. That’s all I’m gon’ say.”   
.  
“I want to.” Rick breathes out quietly although he makes no moves to do so.  
.  
Daryl just grunts softly at him, waiting.  
.  
He pulls himself reluctantly away from the man and stumbles back a bit, realising how weak he’d let himself become in that loving embrace. But he shakes off the passing light-headedness and furiously wipes at his own tears. Daryl deserved to know. He deserved to know just how much Rick appreciated him in his life. And just how much he loved him. Or how much he wanted to love him.   
.  
“But I can’t.”   
.  
He exhales; a shuddering breath that belies his yearning to feel the other man’s lips on his own. He buries his nose in Daryl’s neck this time, not sure if he wants to see the hurt or anger reflected in the man’s eyes just yet. But he opens his eyes despite himself and leans his head back, his soft blue gaze reverently up at Daryl, who looks down at him with nothing but warmth. And in a small burst of madness he goes up on his tip-toes and pecks the man’s lips shyly before sinking back flat on his feet, eyes furiously fixed on his toes, an adorable frown on his face.   
.  
A deep chuckle rumbles from within Daryl’s chest and he feels those strong arms go round his waist again, pulling him closer to that warm body.   
.  
“Hey, up here.” Daryl murmurs, that damn hand on his jaw tilting his face up again to meet his gaze. And when he does, all he sees is a man truly happy to be alone here with him; a mess who’s slowly trying to piece his life back together. He’s about to smile along with Daryl but the man just kisses him instead, swallowing down his happy squeal of delight.   
.  
They cling to each other as the kiss grows more passionate and Daryl’s bending over more and more until they collapse into the blanket of leaves in a giggling tangle of limbs. Well, Rick’s the only one giggling, Daryl just huffs happily, lying on top of him and placing light kisses all over his face, making him crumble into a fit of giggles like Judith when he’s tickling her feet.   
.  
They eventually calm down and dissolve into quiet sighs, Daryl lying flat on his back now with Rick’s head on his chest and a leg draped across his left side. Rick has his thumb in his mouth, chewing on it as if to calm his nerves in some way. He’s quiet even as Daryl speaks, just basking in the mere presence of the man who’s the best thing that’s happened to him in a while. He wonders what this means now. He doesn’t want to jump the gun and guess that a relationship is what Daryl wants with him but can’t imagine this situation going any other way. And if it is; does he tell Daryl about Joe?   
.  
Daryl startles a bit beneath him and he looks up at him curiously.  
.  
“What is it?”   
.  
“Squirrel.” The man answers with a chuckle before going lax again. He’s running soothing fingers through his dark curls forcing him to lie comfortably on his chest again. He smiles and blushes slightly, remembering their little talk at the restaurant.   
.  
“You okay?” Daryl asks softly, arms around his shoulders, his fingers just barely brushing his collarbone.   
.  
“I don’t know.” He answers honestly, teeth still gently biting the tip of his thumb.   
.  
Daryl grunts softly, stroking up and down his arm as if he’s trying to warm him up. Rick rather likes that feeling.   
.  
“What are we now?” he asks; his question full of innocence and hope.   
.  
“We’re whatever you want us to be. Just know that …whatever you decide, I’m still here. Fer you and yer kids.”   
.  
Daryl’s response makes Rick’s eyes water again with emotion and happiness and he smiles. This is a joy he hasn’t felt in years and it’s cleansing, defining like a downpour after a long drought.   
.  
This must be the place.


End file.
